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Digital Forensics & Collections
The need for expertise in digital forensics has never been greater. According to Bloomberg Law’s 2019 Trade Secret Theft Survey, 70% of corporations believe their risk of trade secret theft will increase going forward, and onethird had trade secrets stolen in the past decade.
FTI Technology’s digital forensics and collections group is highly adept at identifying and untangling the webs of interdependencies that link people, corporate entities, monetary amounts, business partners, and outsiders to the critical events under analysis. This includes the common threats of data removal, wiping, or deletion, as well as the identification of unusual activity, such as unexplained gaps in computer usage, Internet browsing history, use of USB/thumb drives, and file access activities.
Our team can provide a strategic and systematic approach to investigating and collecting data from a wide range of sources including networks, mobile devices, and cloud-based social media data. We have successfully conducted hundreds of successful investigations including fraud, non-solicit, employee wrongdoing, pre-litigation, regulatory response, corporate due diligence, and more.
Whether for a time-sensitive investigation or an end-to-end e-discovery matter, the FTI Technology Digital Forensics team delivers speed, efficiency, and discretion for services including data remediation, electronic discovery, and software licensing, auditing, and piracy investigations. FTI Technology’s team can deploy anywhere in the world or work remotely to conduct operations with a minimum of disruption to our clients’ employees and operations.
FTI’s digital forensics and collection professionals offer a wide range of global services.
With teams, labs and data centers in the US, UK, Australia and Asia, FTI serves clients locally around the world.
Our experts have multiple years of experience handling all types of data including network, mobile device, social media, other cloud-based data, and emerging data types such as chat and IM. Along with forensics specialists, we offer licensed private investigators, damages experts, and a full trial services team.
FTI Technology Investigations Services
Expert-Led Collection & Investigation
FTI Technology’s digital forensics group is highly adept at identifying and untangling webs of interdependencies that link people, corporate entities, monetary amounts, business partners and outsiders to the critical events under analysis. This includes the common threats of data removal, wiping, or deletion, as well as identification of unusual activity, such as unexplained gaps in computer usage, Internet browsing history, use of USB /thumb drives, and file access activities. With hundreds of successful collections and investigations completed, the team can deploy anywhere in the world or work remotely to conduct operations with a minimum of disruption to our clients’ employees and operations. The team has deep experience handling a variety of data types and has conducted hundreds of successful investigations including fraud, non-solicit, employee wrongdoing, pre-litigation, regulatory response, corporate due diligence and more.
Forensic Collection Services
- Assessment of scope & disposition of data to be acquired
- Preservation of relevant data
- Forensic collection of all data types including traditional data sources, mobile device, cloud and social media
- On-site data collection with minimal disruption
- Remote collection via DIY, web access or existing infrastructure over network
- Preservation and reconstruction of corrupt or deleted data
- Password cracking
- Development and implementation of search strategies to reduce volume and cost
Investigative Services
- Preparation for and conducting of witness interviews
- Management of key communications
- Performance of fact-finding investigations to uncover evidence and identify participants in corrupt activity
- Assessment and evaluation of compliance program and/or internal controls
- Forensic accounting review of books and records to determine scope of violations and reconstruct financial records to actual events
- Background investigations of third parties to support internal investigation and assess ongoing business relationships
Post Collection & Investigation Services
- Processing, hosting, review and production of multilingual data
- Sworn Affidavits and Declarations
- Expert Testimony
- Preparation of responses to government subpoenas and requests for information
- Preparation of formal reports for regulators and law enforcement personnel
- Support for legal counsel in plea negotiations and ‘ability to pay’ defenses
- Preparation for initial meet and confer conferences
How We Can Help
Intellectual Property Theft & Trade Secret Misappropriation
Bloomberg Law 2019 Trade Secret Theft Survey: One-third of corporations had trade secrets stolen or misappropriated in the last 10 years, and nearly 70% believe their organization’s risk of trade secret theft will increase in the next five years.
The FTI team has a particularly strong track record in helping corporations protect against, detect, and contain trade secret and other types of intellectual property theft. We work to identify risky behavior by departing employees, secure all potentially relevant data sources, recover deleted data, gain access to passwordprotected files, and find key documents and system artifacts in a minimum amount of time – routinely delivering initial results and reports within 24 hours. Our team can then provide expert testimony about the results of our investigations. The team also works in additional roles around theft investigation, including helping companies that inadvertently receive trade secrets and serving as a neutral third party or court appointed expert to investigate and remediate data theft.
Social Media, Sim & Chat, and Cloud-Based Data Handling
From apps such as Gmail and Google Docs to collaboration platforms like Slack to chat applications to popular social media sites including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, the FTI Technology team can quickly collect and preserve cloud data in a defensible manner. Using proven software, tools, and methodologies, FTI Technology enables legal and IT teams to easily search, preserve, collect and review these emerging data types alongside other enterprise information so that they can quickly understand and act upon the content for legal matters, investigations or regulatory responses.
Data Remediation
The FTI Technology team employs thorough and tested workflows to complete both small and large-scale data remediations. Using an array of data analytics tools, the team can perform a comprehensive identification of problem documents across multiple ESI sources and then quickly remove misappropriated or other unwanted data from company networks.
Software Licensing, Audit & Piracy Investigations
FTI offers an array of services to help software publishers and other organizations analyze the use and misuse of software licenses. From license audits to software piracy investigations to general licensing management, FTI’s global team of recognized experts in digital forensics, licensing compliance and investigations can help corporations monitor and protect these valuable assets.
Electronic Discovery Collection & Preservation
The FTI digital forensics team offers clients deep experience collecting and preserving data during the e-discovery process. From assessment of scope and disposition of data to be acquired, to preservation of relevant electronic evidence, to forensic collection of a full array of data types, to preservation and reconstruction of corrupt or deleted data, the digital forensics team can help. Additionally, the team has worked on email fabrication and alteration matters, testified about authenticity of documents, done deletion analyses from cell phones, email servers and other sources and worked on many other complex e-discovery challenges. Throughout the entire litigation lifecycle — from data collection and culling to review and production for possible presentation in court — the entire FTI Technology team employs proven methodologies that provide a strategic and logistical advantage.
Whether for a time-sensitive investigation or an end-to-end e-discovery matter, the FTI Technology Digital Forensics team delivers:
Rapid Results
In all scenarios, FTI’s forensic team acts with the utmost speed and efficiency. We know that in many cases, timing is crucial to the preservation of key facts and data. That’s why our professionals work to assess data populations, determine data source types, analyze actions of individuals and preserve evidence rapidly. We then deliver reports on case intelligence within the shortest possible timeline, helping organizations to quickly understand the matter and implement appropriate actions.
Process Workflow
As a global company, FTI forensic professionals can quickly deploy from our offices across the world to collect relevant data or uncover key facts behind the investigation. Clients benefit from FTI’s extensive experience managing global matters, including adherence to foreign data privacy laws, in-country cultural awareness, discrete processes that do not interrupt the regular course of business and multi-lingual capabilities.
Best-of-Breed Technology
FTI forensic professionals utilize defensible tools and methodologies to ensure the collection and investigation is conducted in a forensically sound manner. In addition, FTI can develop courtroom materials that clearly explain the forensic evidence and methodology, including affidavits, file activity diagrams, exhibits, as well as expert testimony.
Related Resources
Case Study
During the discovery phase of an alleged theft of trade secret litigation between two technology companies, parties contended with a search and production protocol relating to confidential information, trade secrets, personal data and highly complex metadata in the set of potentially relevant documents. The district court appointed FTI Technology as the neutral third party expert charged to handle execution of the court ordered search protocol involving the analysis and extraction of forensic artifacts at scale beyond the corpus of custodian communications and work data, to determine which items should be turned over to opposing counsel, and which contained sensitive information that should be withheld. The findings helped the parties reach a settlement.
Case Study
FTI Technology Responds to Large European Commission Phase II Request Within 24 Days
A large European corporation in the midst of an acquisition received a wide-reaching request for information (RFI) from the European Commission. With only weeks to respond, the organisation selected FTI Technology for the team’s extensive merger control expertise and market-leading technology solutions, to successfully respond to the inquiry on time.
Case Study
Following a 2019 Food & Drug Administration recall of a drug that was thought to contain a harmful contaminant, numerous lawsuits were filed against the pharmaceutical manufacturer in multiple states. The matter eventually consolidated into class action litigation, triggering a widespread investigation spanning three countries. Over the course of more than 18 months, FTI Technology’s Digital Forensics & Investigations team conducted the investigation across numerous facilities and more than 80 custodians, overcoming complex challenges relating to cross-border data transfer issues, Chinese state secrets restrictions and global data privacy regulations.
Digital Forensics — Testifying Experts
In today’s high-stakes, high-profile investigations legal teams require experts versed in the nuances of collaborative corporate communications, emerging data sources, global regulatory concerns, and defensible evidence collection methodologies.